Padua College (Brisbane)

Padua College received its name from the Franciscan Friar Saint Anthony of Padua (1195-1231), appointed by St Francis as the first Professor of Theology for the Friars. Padua is the university city of northern Italy where St Anthony died.

History

Padua began in 1956 when the [[]Franciscan Sister]s, who cared for the parish primary school of St Anthony’s, were no longer able to cater for the large number of boys in their school. At the request of Sister Mary Bernadette O’Callaghan OSF, the Friars, who had taken charge of the Kedron parish since 1929, agreed to begin a separate school for boys.

Fr Damian Nolan OFM, was appointed nominal Rector of the new school, which began with two lay teachers, Mrs Eileen Cameron and Mr John Fox, and 89 boys in Years 4, 5 and 6. The Friars began teaching in the school in 1957 with the arrival of Fr Alban Mitchell OFM, Fr Angelo O’Hagan OFM, and a little later Fr Odoric OFM.

Since that time Padua has developed with many extensions and facilities. At present there are over 1000 students enrolled at the College.

Sport

Sport is an important part of the college curriculum. The College is a member of the Associated Independent Colleges (AIC) whose sporting competitions usually take place on Saturdays. The member colleges of this association are Marist College Ashgrove, Iona College, St Patrick's College, St Edmund's College, St Peter's Lutheran College, St Laurence's College, Villanova College and Padua College.

Co-curricular activities

All boys attending the College are required to represent Padua in co-curricular activities. The College offers students the opportunity to participate in debating and public speaking events, chess competitions and music and drama programs. In addition, the College also enters teams into the Associated Independent Colleges competition for the following sports: Swimming, Cricket, Volleyball, Rugby, Soccer, Tennis, Basketball, Athletics and Cross Country.

All boys must compete in the College's annual Inter-House Swimming, Cross Country and Athletics Carnivals. Padua College has its playing fields on a 73,000 square metre site at Elliot Road Banyo for cricket, rugby and soccer.

Padua has a very well equipped Music Department which includes a recording studio and sound-proof drum room. Tuition is available in all orchestral instruments. A wide variety of instruments are available for hire to students at a low cost. Students are encouraged to become members of the Concert Bands, Big Band, String Orchestras and Symphony. All Year 8 students study piano and guitar as part of the ordinary school curriculum. Music is taught as a Board Subject in Years 9 through to 12. Every alternate year the boys and girls from Mt Alvernia and Padua College produce a Musical. Recent productions have included "Joseph and the Technicolour Dreamcoat", "Les Miserables", and more recently, "Jesus Christ Superstar".

Staff Leaders

Rector: Robert Out

Vice Rector Administration: Brett Harvey

Vice Rector Curriculum: Trish Dwyer

Vice Rector Formation: Michael O'Brien

Vice Rector Pastoral Care: Brett Foster

Vice Rector Primary: Phillip Dobson

Beirne House Guardian: Paul Garufi

Grigg House Guardian: Daniel Cull

Mitchell House Guardian: Simon Stower

Odoric House Guardian: Ben Frazer

Sports Master: Scott Maguire

Student Leaders (2006)

School Captain: Patrick Sullivan

School Vice Captain: Anthony Purvis

Beirne House Captain: Zac Skring

Beirne House Vice Captain: Jarryd Cahill

Grigg House Captain: Joel Challinor

Grigg House Vice Captain: Brent Doolan

Mitchell House Captain: Sam Purvis

Mitchell House Vice Captain: Troy Davis

Odoric House Captain: Blair Dravel

Odoric House Vice Captain: Andrew Gerkin

External links

• ChrisCh Student Network (School resources, photographs and student services for registered Padua students)
• Official Website